Bolshevik Revolution

Also referred to as the October Revolution, despite happening on November 17, since Russia at the time had not adopted the Gregorian calendar used by other Western nations. This was essentially a coup d'etat by Lenin and his Bolsheviks against Kerensky's Provisional Government, which had taken power after the abdication of the Tsar in February 1917. Backed by the Social Revolutionary party (whose members would later find themselves persecuted, jailed, and eventually liquidated by their Communist allies after the Civil War was successfully concluded), Lenin succeeded in mobilizing the war-weary peasants, proletariat, and soldiery against the Provisional Government using the slogan "Bread and Peace". Once in power, the Bolsheviks moved quickly to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and end Russia's participation in World War I, after which they could concentrate their attention on winning the Civil War.